editorNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Jennifer Ludden is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk. She covers a range of stories on family life and social issues.In recent years, Ludden has reported on the changing economics of marriage, the changing role of dads, the impact of rising student debt loads, and the ethical challenges of modern reproductive technology.Ludden helped cover national security after the 9/11 attacks, then reported on the Bush administration's crackdown on illegal immigrants as well as Congressional efforts to pass a sweeping legalization. She traveled to the Philippines for a story on how an overburdened immigration bureaucracy keeps families separated for years, and to El Salvador to profile migrants who had been deported or turned back at the border.Prior to moving into her current assignment in 2002, Ludden spent six years as a foreign reporter for NPR covering the Middle East, Europe, and West and Central Africa. She followed the collapse of the decade-long Oslo peace process, shared in twoNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Jennifer LuddenSun, 20 Nov 2016 12:06:33 +0000Jennifer Luddenhttp://upr.org
Jennifer LuddenThe most contentious presidential campaign and election in memory has many people dreading the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Some have even canceled plans, unwilling to face family members on the other side of the country's hardening political divide.Not so for the McNeish family of Roanoke, Va., though they still differ mightily on what to expect from a President Trump over the next four years."I have no faith in him whatsoever," says Danny, 35, who works with a company that supplies and services restaurant equipment. He considered Trump's campaign a "joke" and cast a reluctant vote for Hillary Clinton.His father and stepmother both voted for Donald Trump. Phil McNeish, 57, is a machinist who calls himself a left-leaning independent; his wife, Julie, is a schoolteacher who was raised a Democrat. Before Trump, both voted for President Obama in 2008 and then Mitt Romney in 2012.Phil, who grew up in New Jersey, says he gets Trump's style. "He's brash, he's in your face," he says. "RoughThis Family Doesn't Agree On Trump — But They Await His Presidency Togetherhttp://upr.org/post/family-doesnt-agree-trump-they-await-his-presidency-together
79465 as http://upr.orgSat, 19 Nov 2016 15:01:00 +0000This Family Doesn't Agree On Trump — But They Await His Presidency TogetherJennifer LuddenAmy Hagstrom Miller of Whole Women's Health had been having a banner year. Her organization, based in Charlottesville, Va., operates several abortion clinics around the country and brought a legal challenge that led the Supreme Court to issue a landmark ruling this past summer.The court struck down abortion restrictions in Texas, setting a precedent that abortion rights groups believe could help turn back a wave of restrictions passed by legislatures across the country in recent years.But now that Donald Trump is the president-elect? "I'm devastated," Miller says. "I feel stunned. I'm numb."Trump's election could have a profound impact on access to abortion. He has said he'll nominate Supreme Court justices who would be likely to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized the procedure. And he's set to take office with one opening on the court, since Republican senators have refused to consider President Obama's nominee to fill the vacancy created after Justice Antonin ScaliaAccess To Abortion Could Be Curtailed Under Trump Administrationhttp://upr.org/post/access-abortion-could-be-curtailed-under-trump-administration
79134 as http://upr.orgThu, 10 Nov 2016 19:03:00 +0000Access To Abortion Could Be Curtailed Under Trump AdministrationJennifer LuddenIn Greensboro, N.C., Eyeisha Holt spends her days as a full-time child care worker at Head Start. But after a decade's work in early education she still earns only $11.50 an hour — barely enough, she says, to cover the basics as a single mom of two. So every weekday evening she heads to her second job, as a babysitter."Are you ready to go to bed?" she asks, as she oversees bath time for her 3-year-old daughter and another of her charges. For 25 hours a week, Holt cares for toddler twins, in addition to her daughter and teenage son."Some days I'm really strong," she says. "Some days it's like, 'OK, give me seven cups of coffee.' "Nationwide, average pay for child care workers like Holt is less than $10 an hour. Nearly half of these workers receive some kind of public assistance.Holt gets food stamps and her children are on Medicaid. "And I just feel like it's kind of messed up," she says. "You would think, being in a profession such as teaching, I should be making enough money where IPoverty Wages For U.S. Child Care Workers May Be Behind High Turnoverhttp://upr.org/post/poverty-wages-us-child-care-workers-may-be-behind-high-turnover
78977 as http://upr.orgMon, 07 Nov 2016 10:07:00 +0000Poverty Wages For U.S. Child Care Workers May Be Behind High TurnoverJennifer LuddenIn the final presidential debate, Donald Trump said he supports the federal ban on "partial-birth" abortion because, under the procedure, "in the ninth month you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother."He added that this can happen "as late as one or two or three or four days prior to birth."But that is not at all likely.Some 90 percent of abortions take place in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. Only about 1.5 percent of abortions take place 20 weeks or later after conception. Of those, the vast majority happen before 24 weeks, and only a few are performed through dilation and extraction (DFact-Checking Trump's Statements On 'Partial-Birth' Abortionhttp://upr.org/post/fact-checking-trumps-position-partial-birth-abortion
78288 as http://upr.orgThu, 20 Oct 2016 12:49:00 +0000Fact-Checking Trump's Statements On 'Partial-Birth' AbortionJennifer LuddenIn the two-story breakfast room on the 25th floor of Hilton's Conrad Miami, Florance Eloi mans the omelet stand in front of a panoramic view of the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. The bubbly Miami native says, laughing, that guests routinely tell her, "Stop making the omelets, you need to turn around and look!"When Eloi, 31, found out she was pregnant late last year, she wondered how she would balance her job with a baby. She was lucky to have a few weeks of paid vacation, since about half of lower-wage workers do not.Still, it would be hard to come back to work so soon. And if she stayed home longer without a paycheck, Eloi says, she and her husband would have had to dip into savings.Then Eloi's manager told her some good news: By the time Eloi gave birth, a new policy would guarantee her 10 weeks of fully paid parental leave."It was right on time!" she says.Recent years have seen a boom in paid parental leave in parts of corporate America. Silicon Valley, especially, is in aFrom Cooks To Accountants: Hilton Extends Paid Parental Leave To Allhttp://upr.org/post/hilton-paid-parental-leave-housekeepers-and-cooks-too
77982 as http://upr.orgTue, 11 Oct 2016 22:37:00 +0000From Cooks To Accountants: Hilton Extends Paid Parental Leave To AllJennifer LuddenOn her first day back at work after giving birth, Tricia Olson drank copious amounts of coffee, stuffed tissues in her pocket, and tried not to cry. After all, her son Gus was just 3 weeks old.Olson, 32, works for a small towing company and U-Haul franchise in Rock Springs, Wyo., and she could not afford to be away from work any longer."The house bill's not going to pay itself," she says, her voice breaking in an audio diary she kept as part of a series on the challenges facing working parents airing on NPR's All Things Considered.Olson is one of just four employees she says are "like family," and like many U.S. workers, she has no paid leave at all: not for vacation, not if she gets sick, and certainly not for parental leave.Normally, she's the only one in the office to take calls. Her boss agreed to fill in for her for three weeks after the delivery, but she says "even just that ... makes me feel guilty."Olson is hardly alone in returning to work so early. But this is a uniquelyOn Your Mark, Give Birth, Go Back To Workhttp://upr.org/post/your-mark-give-birth-go-back-work
77735 as http://upr.orgTue, 04 Oct 2016 20:35:00 +0000On Your Mark, Give Birth, Go Back To WorkJennifer LuddenA powerful drug that's normally used to tranquilize elephants is being blamed for a record spike in drug overdoses in the Midwest. Officials in Ohio have declared a public health emergency, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says communities everywhere should be on alert for carfentanil.The synthetic opioid is 100 times more potent than fentanyl, the prescription painkiller that led to the death earlier this year of the pop star Prince. Fentanyl itself can be up to 50 times more deadly than heroin.In the past few years, traffickers in illegal drugs increasingly have substituted fentanyl for heroin and other opioids. Now carfentanil is being sold on American streets, either mixed with heroin or pressed into pills that look like prescription drugs. Many users don't realize that they're buying carfentanil. And that has deadly consequences."Instead of having four or five overdoses in a day, you're having these 20, 30, 40, maybe even 50 overdoses in a day," says Tom Synan, whoAn Even Deadlier Opioid, Carfentanil, Is Hitting The Streets http://upr.org/post/even-deadlier-opioid-carfentanil-hitting-streets
76591 as http://upr.orgFri, 02 Sep 2016 09:07:00 +0000An Even Deadlier Opioid, Carfentanil, Is Hitting The Streets Jennifer LuddenCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit NPR.Worried About A Bleak Future, Climate Change Activists Hesitant To Have Kids http://upr.org/post/activists-consider-climate-impact-having-children
76409 as http://upr.orgSun, 28 Aug 2016 21:10:00 +0000Worried About A Bleak Future, Climate Change Activists Hesitant To Have Kids Jennifer LuddenOrientation at Arkansas Tech University this year included a surprising topic for a Bible Belt state that pushes abstinence-only in high school. Every freshman was shown a newly produced video in which real students talk about the struggle of an unplanned pregnancy, and the challenge of staying in school as a parent."I lost a lot of friends," says one young woman in the video who had dreamed of becoming a surgeon. A young man says he "went from not having any responsibility to having a full-time responsibility," while another laments that Friday nights are no longer spent with friends but at home "watching Dora. A lot of Dora."The message is clear, and it will come up again throughout the year: in a college success course, in group chats in dorms, at a slew of events during Sexual Health Week.Why in college? Arkansas has the nation's highest rate of teen births, but most of them — here and nationally — are actually to young adults, 18 and 19 years old. Last year, the ArkansasA New Course At Arkansas Colleges: How To Not Get Pregnanthttp://upr.org/post/new-course-arkansas-colleges-how-not-get-pregnant
76338 as http://upr.orgFri, 26 Aug 2016 17:32:00 +0000A New Course At Arkansas Colleges: How To Not Get PregnantJennifer LuddenCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit NPR.Remaining Charges Against Officers In Freddie Gray's Death Droppedhttp://upr.org/post/remaining-charges-against-officers-freddie-grays-death-dropped
75120 as http://upr.orgWed, 27 Jul 2016 20:07:00 +0000Remaining Charges Against Officers In Freddie Gray's Death DroppedJennifer LuddenCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit MONTAGNE, HOST: In a surprise move, Baltimore prosecutors have dropped all charges against three officers who still face trial in the death of Freddie Gray. The death of that young black man last year touched off protests that turned violent. State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby had been lauded by some for swiftly charging six officers, but the case has been an uphill battle from the start. NPR's Jennifer Ludden is here with us to talk more about this, and, you know, pretty stunning since there was a courtroom full of people in Baltimore expecting a hearing in the trial of one of these officers. JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE: Yes, Renee, the fifth hearing in this long case, and, you know, people have been calling on Marilyn Mosby to drop these charges for a while. But everyone just assumed, well, she's not going to do that. It's just going to continue on. And yet prosecutors made this motion at the very last minute. You know, there were two more officersCharges Against Remaining Officers Dropped In Freddie Gray Casehttp://upr.org/post/charges-against-remaining-officers-dropped-freddie-gray-case
75109 as http://upr.orgWed, 27 Jul 2016 15:41:00 +0000Charges Against Remaining Officers Dropped In Freddie Gray CaseJennifer Ludden Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit NPR.Abortion-Rights Supporters, Opponents Plan Next Stepshttp://upr.org/post/abortion-rights-supporters-opponents-plan-next-steps
74052 as http://upr.orgSat, 02 Jul 2016 21:07:00 +0000Abortion-Rights Supporters, Opponents Plan Next StepsJennifer LuddenCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Officer's Acquittal Renews Calls For Baltimore Police Reformhttp://upr.org/post/officers-acquittal-renews-calls-baltimore-police-reform
74025 as http://upr.orgFri, 01 Jul 2016 20:38:00 +0000Officer's Acquittal Renews Calls For Baltimore Police ReformJennifer LuddenCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Officer Caesar Goodson Acquitted Of All Counts In Freddie Gray Casehttp://upr.org/post/officer-caesar-goodson-acquitted-all-counts-freddie-gray-case
73663 as http://upr.orgThu, 23 Jun 2016 16:15:00 +0000Officer Caesar Goodson Acquitted Of All Counts In Freddie Gray CaseJennifer LuddenOne of the country's most outspoken abortion providers has filed a civil rights complaint against the hospital where she works, saying that it has wrongly banned her from giving media interviews.Last fall Diane Horvath-Cosper, an obstetrician and gynecologist, did a lightning round of media interviews after a shooting attack killed three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic, raising new safety concerns at health care facilities that perform abortions."I want women to be able to access abortion in a safe, legal, compassionate environment. So no, I'm not deterred," she told MSNBC then.But one week after that, Horvath-Cosper says, she was called to a meeting with top officials at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in the District of Columbia. They said it was a security matter."I was told that that the hospital was happy with the care we were providing for patients, but that they didn't want to put a Kmart blue-light special on the fact that we provided abortion," she says.InCan A Hospital Tell A Doctor To Stop Talking About Abortion?http://upr.org/post/can-hospital-tell-doctor-stop-talking-about-abortion
71723 as http://upr.orgThu, 05 May 2016 09:07:00 +0000Can A Hospital Tell A Doctor To Stop Talking About Abortion?Jennifer LuddenThe nation's falling teen birth rate saw an even bigger drop over the past decade, with dramatic declines among Hispanic and black teens.Birth rates are down a whopping 51 percent among Hispanics age 15 to 19 since 2006, and down 44 percent among black teens, according to a survey of census data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Teen pregnancy rates among whites also fell by a third."It's really a one-two punch," says study co-author Shanna Cox, associate director for science for the CDC's Division of Reproductive Health. "Teens are having less sex, and among the teens who are having sex, they're using more effective methods of birth control."The study finds the use of long-acting contraceptives like IUDs and implants jumped from 1 percent of teens a decade ago to 7 percent in 2014. While teen birth rates for minorities are still nearly double that for whites, the CDC finds that disparity has shrunk in many areas.Still, Cox says the study also shows that teen birthTeen Birth Rates Plummet For Hispanic And Black Girlshttp://upr.org/post/teen-birth-rates-plummet-hispanic-and-black-girls
71458 as http://upr.orgThu, 28 Apr 2016 17:50:00 +0000Teen Birth Rates Plummet For Hispanic And Black GirlsJennifer LuddenThe trials of six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray were supposed to have been over by now. It was a year ago Tuesday that the 25-year-old black man died of a severe neck injury sustained in custody.His death touched off violent protests, and — in a stunning announcement just days later — criminal charges.State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said she had heard protesters' calls for "no justice, no peace."But so far, there's been one hung jury, lots of legal maneuvering and delays.Now, the city is bracing as the trials are set to begin again, next month."It shows the justice system right now is unjust. For it to basically take a year, it's unsettling," says Marvin Cheatham, who heads a neighborhood association near where Gray lived.Things are quiet now, Cheatham says. But crime and violence in Baltimore's poorest neighborhoods goes up with the warmer weather, he adds.Cheatham worries about a repeat of last spring and summer's record-setting spike in homicides.A Year After Freddie Gray's Death, Trials Set To Begin (Again)http://upr.org/post/year-after-freddie-grays-death-trials-set-begin-again
71095 as http://upr.orgTue, 19 Apr 2016 21:37:00 +0000A Year After Freddie Gray's Death, Trials Set To Begin (Again)Jennifer LuddenWhen a doctor found that Kenicer Carty's 1-year-old daughter had a dangerously high level of lead last year, it triggered an alarm of sorts. Officials sent an inspector to Carty's 1930 row house in northeast Baltimore. It turned out that every single window had hazardous chipping lead paint.The city contracted with the nonprofit Green and Healthy Homes Initiative to replace the windows and inspect her house. They will also fix a leak in a bedroom wall and near the toilet where water pools, because moisture prompts paint to break down.While it's all welcome help, it has been six months since Carty's daughter tested positive for lead. She hopes the girl won't suffer the irreversible behavior or learning problems that lead can cause, but she hasn't told anyone about the poisoning."Because I don't want people to judge," she says. "You know, we live in a society where you're labeled for just the simplest thing."Baltimore banned lead paint in 1950, nearly 30 years before the rest of theBaltimore Struggles To Protect Children From Lead Painthttp://upr.org/post/baltimore-struggles-protect-children-lead-paint
69904 as http://upr.orgMon, 21 Mar 2016 21:25:00 +0000Baltimore Struggles To Protect Children From Lead PaintJennifer LuddenAt Southwest Baltimore Charter School, preparing lunch takes a few extra steps."We don't use the water from the building for cooking, not at all," say cafeteria worker LaShawn Thompson, shaking her head.Her colleague, Christine Fraction, points to a large water bottle sitting on the counter of a stainless steel sink."We having greens or something like that, we having vegetables, we'll just turn it over into the pan and then put it on the stove," she says.Throughout the school, water fountains are turned off. In the storeroom, an entire wall is stocked to the ceiling with water bottles."It's safety first," says Erika Brockman, the school's executive director. "It's not the best solution. But in the short term, I completely understand why the district is approaching the problem this way."When Can Water Fountains Be Turned On Again?Bottled water has actually become a long term solution in Baltimore. The city first found elevated lead levels in scores of schools in 1992. That was a fewBefore Flint, Lead-Contaminated Water Plagued Schools Across U.S.http://upr.org/post/flint-lead-contaminated-water-plagued-schools-across-us
69659 as http://upr.orgWed, 16 Mar 2016 09:11:00 +0000Before Flint, Lead-Contaminated Water Plagued Schools Across U.S.Jennifer LuddenCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: As we mentioned earlier, people on both sides of the issue rallied outside of the court. That's where NPR's Jennifer Ludden was posted.UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: If you love an abortion provider, make some noise.(CHEERING)JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE: Abortion rights supporters vastly outnumbered abortion opponents. They packed the steps of the Supreme Court, spreading in a dense crowd to the edge of the sidewalk, where police struggled to keep people off the street. Mary Beth Hastings took time off work to be here. She said the stakes seem even higher with the death of Antonin Scalia and the need to pick a new justice.MARY BETH HASTINGS: I think it's tremendously important for people to think about this in terms of the election, in terms about - of Supreme Court justices. This is not something we can take for granted.LUDDEN: Valerie Peterson came up from Texas to rally with the National Abortion Federation. Last summer, she wasProtesters Gather Outside Supreme Court As Justices Consider Abortion Casehttp://upr.org/post/protestors-gather-outside-supreme-court-justices-consider-abortion
69119 as http://upr.orgWed, 02 Mar 2016 23:41:00 +0000Protesters Gather Outside Supreme Court As Justices Consider Abortion Case